How To Spot A Stroke

What Is A Stroke

A stroke is a series of events that leads to the brain being deprived of oxygen and nutrients through a lack of blood supply. When this happens cells in the brain begin to die which can cause permanent brain damage and you will begin to see the effects immediately: non-symmetric smile, difficulty with arms, slurred speech etc.

Hemorrhagic Strokes:

The brain and skull have a delicate balance of protection and "breathing room" to accommodate swelling from injury. If the head experiences some trauma an intracerebal hematoma (also know as intracranial hematoma) can occur when a vein or artery ruptures and causes a bleed in the brain tissue causing cells to die. This type of hemorrhaging can occur either through head trauma or a stroke (a clot). The bleed puts pressure on the brain and can cause death if not treated immediately.

Ischemic Strokes:

This type of stroke happens when the brain is starved of oxygen and nutrients due to a blocked artery. The arteries involved are usually significant ones that supply the brain with its need nutrients on a consistent basis and without them the cells begin to die. This type of stroke can come on very suddenly and without much warning prior to the event which in a way can be much more devastating to the patient and their families.

What To Look Out For

Head Trauma Stats

Have you ever had an intracerebral hematoma or head trauma?

Yes

No, but I have had another sort of brain hematoma

No, but I have had head trauma

No, but I am at risk either through my age, medication, or condition that I have

Symptoms Of A Stroke

When someone has experienced head trauma it is always advisable to get them checked out by a medical professional to rule out any complications such as a hemorrhagic stroke. Having a blocked artery (also referred to as an ischemic stroke) will also cause the same symptoms and you should also look out for the following tells:

Vomiting

Nausea

Severe headache

Coma

Death

Dizziness

Confusing

Loss of consciousness

If you notice someone with these symptoms who have not experienced recent head trauma then they may be having a ischemic stroke and emergency medical treatment is needed. Sometimes it is difficult to spot a stroke so you should act F.A.S.T and look out for these main symptoms:

Face: has their face dropped on one side?

Arms: can they lift up both arms and hold them there?

Speech: is their speech slurred or difficult to understand?

Time: if you see any of these symptoms it's time to dial for an ambulance.

Please watch this video on spotting a stroke as you may use the information to save someone's life one day.

When in doubt call 911 | Source

Can You Identify A Stroke?

Diagnosis and Treatment

Hemorrhagic Bleeds

Once the symptoms have been diagnosed and verified by a medical professional and the patient is in their care the a MRI or CT scan of the brain is taken to identify the size and location of the bleed in the brain. If the bleed is tiny then surgery may not be necessary and you will be given some medication to help dissolve any clots and then begin the recovery process. However, if the bleed is substantial then a surgeon will need to perform a craniotomy (brain surgery) to remove the newly hematoma and stop the source of the bleeding.

Ischemic Bleed

If the cause of the bleeding was not through trauma then is likely that the patient will be at risk from further problems until the source is identified and will have to be monitored closely to avoid further problems.

Ischemic strokes are harder to identify as the clotted artery could be at any point in the length of the patients artery. To identify the blockage the patient would be injected with a contract die and then scanned which would then make clear where the blockage was as the rest of the artery would be dark instead of highlighted with the contrast die.

To remove the clot from the artery the patient may be given some medication to dissolve the clot quickly to restore blood flow or a surgeon may need to go in through keyhole surgery and physically remove the clot.

When the patient begins to recover they may need to be put on anti-coagulants to thin their blood which would help in preventing any underlying clotting issues that could create further bleeds. Anti-coagulant medications include Warfarin and Heparin.

Complications and Prevention

Have a bleed on the brain and the surgery to correct it is very dangerous. Both of these events can cause permanent damage to the brain. Complications include:

Coma

Death

Seizures

Memory loss

Difficulty concentrating or speaking

Paralysis

Prevention for these bleeds requires tight control over any conditions or medications that increases the risk and always wearing the correct safety equipment when performing an activity that present head trauma as a risk.

If you are in any doubt that you are at risk for a stroke in the future then you should make an appointment to see your primary care provider to assess you current health and design a regime to help reduce any strong indicators. By doing this you will being giving yourself a little bit of insurance that should you suffer a stroke you have already taken steps to reduce the amount of damage that can be done.

Remember

This HubPage is for informational uses only and should not replace the attention of your health care provider.

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)

Google AdSense Host API

This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Facebook Login

You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Maven

This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)

We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.

Conversion Tracking Pixels

We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.

Statistics

Author Google Analytics

This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)

Comscore

ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)

Amazon Tracking Pixel

Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)